Is Trixie a genius?

[Fractured 2,684]

I was just fishing through Tv Tropes "Weak, but skilled" page when they brought up Trixie, and something just occured to me.

 

Magic in Equestria is not just something you can pull out of the air. It takes a while for unicorns to learn even basic levitation, powerful spells require advanced study. Many times, Twilight Sparkle has even had to resort to magical formulas off of books and scrolls themselves in order to perform spells, the time travel spell and the reformation spell being two off the top of my head.

 

Trixie performs an age spell in seconds.

 

To start with, it's obvious that Trixie would never have been able to perform an age spell under normal circumstances. Only the highest level unicorns can use those spells, a circle which apparently doesn't even include Twilight Sparkle herself. She would have had no ability to practice this kind of magic, and no need to study it.

 

Furthermore, it's not just age spells, she performs a wide variety of complex spells, including weather manipulation and transmutation. She even came up with a spell specifically to cause pain, something we've never seen before or even heard mentioned. For all intents and purposes she created that spell herself, something which few unicorns have ever done;Celestia praised Twilight for finishing a spell,creating one out of scratch is absolutely amazing.

 

Trixie was stated to have attended Celestia's School for gifted unicorns. However, she's traveled all over Equestria when we've seen her in Boast Busters. Going back to Twilight, during the first episode, it mentions she's studying abroad,which means she still hasn't graduated. Trixie was either kicked out of school,or dropped. But why?

 

What if the reason was that Trixie was simply born with a low magical yield? While she's intelligent, she simply doesn't have the raw power unicorns like Twilight have, and so is unable to do the things they can even with proper learning. It would explain why she couldn't graduate from school; she'd be unable to pass any of the tests given to her. It would also explain her attitude. Trixie is arrogant because she knows that she's not Great and Powerful, but she pretends that she is so that everybody will think she is. Nobody would ever figure out she's secretly putting on two shows.

 

It also explains her hatred of Twilight. Twilight has insane amounts of magic, but treats it like it's nothing. To someone like Trixie, it would be a slap in the face; imagine if you spent your entire life trying to lift a car, only to see someone casually backhand one thirty feet into the air...on their way to the mailbox. Twilight also exposed how powerless she is to the world, something she never wanted them to know. Boast Busters would literally be Trixie's own personal hell.
 

So is Trixie secretly a genius who's cursed with low magic levels? What do you guys think?

[Pastel 7,630]

It also explains her hatred of Twilight. Twilight has insane amounts of magic, but treats it like it's nothing.

What do you mean? Twilight has studied a lot and she knows many different spells.

[Sunny Fox 5,961]

I guess it depends on what you assume the Alicorn Amulet actually does. Does it just grant increased power, or does it also somehow add the knowledge necessary to cast the spells we see in Magic Duel? From what we know of the amulet, the stated effects are: 1. increases magical power and 2. corrupts the user, making them progressively more cruel and domineering. Nothing to suggest it gives some sort of additional knowledge, although it's not ruled out entirely, either. 

 

It's established that Twilight has an unusually high magical power source, seeing what happens in Cutie Mark Chronicles. Celestia even says she needs "focused study" to learn how to channel her raw power, so what you've suggested is certainly plausible. Maybe Trixie is smart enough to know how to cast spells for which she doesn't have the raw magical power to actually pull off without a boost from something like the Alicorn Amulet. Although, the same could be said of Twilight. In Magic Duel, she shows she is capable of reversing the age of something (flower --> bud in her case), she just didn't have the power to make it stick.

 

Makes no real difference, though, since Twilight is still more powerful than Trixie, all things being equal. And she certainly knows how to outsmart her, as well. So if Trixie is a genius, then so is Twilight, she just got a bit luckier in the Unicorn Magical Power Lottery, as it were.

[Fractured 2,684]

What do you mean? Twilight has studied a lot and she knows many different spells.

During the entire events of Boast Busters, Twilight refuses to battle Trixie. Afterwards, she completely shows her up by levitating an Ursa Minor. Even afterwards, she didn't treat it like a big deal, she was more concerned with her friends. Again in Boast Busters, Twilight gives off a "but for me, it was Tuesday" vibe whenever she meets Trixie.

[user1342342 143]

Not counting the Alicorn Amulet, Trixie has displayed some impressive magic. Not to mention that she makes a living by entertaining others with it. I think that alone is pretty impressive considering that Equestria is a world full of magical creatures. It was also stated that she attended the academy of gifted unicorns, so I think that Trixie is definitely above the average unicorn.

 

Comparing her to Twilight, it's pretty obvious that she can best Trixie when it comes to magic. Twilight is the star pupil of a goddess, and her life is insanely privileged compared to Trixie's.

 

 

 

Trixie was either kicked out of school,or dropped. But why?

 

My guess is pride. I hope the writes elaborate on this one day.

[Darker 1,352]

Pretty sute she's just another childish pony too full of herself, like RD.

[Nuke87654 1,849]

Not counting the Alicorn Amulet, Trixie has displayed some impressive magic. Not to mention that she makes a living by entertaining others with it. I think that alone is pretty impressive considering that Equestria is a world full of magical creatures. It was also stated that she attended the academy of gifted unicorns, so I think that Trixie is definitely above the average unicorn.

 

Comparing her to Twilight, it's pretty obvious that she can best Trixie when it comes to magic. Twilight is the star pupil of a goddess, and her life is insanely privileged compared to Trixie's.

 

 

 

 

My guess is pride. I hope the writes elaborate on this one day.

 

Where's the info showing Trixie has attended the academy please.

[Hive King 2,001]

Trixie is not intelligent, at all. She's a cocky fool who let herself get fooled by smoke and mirror tricks she herself performed at one point. As for magic knowledge, again, the age spell has more to do with power. Twilight was very close to making it work on the flower, but didn't have the raw power to finish the job. 

 

No, Trixie is little more than a glorified clown who gets fawned on by the fanbase for some ungodly reason. The only reason she did anything in Ponyville is because Ponyville citizens are just as stupid, if not more stupid than her

[11th Doctor Whooves 794]

Genius might be pushing it, but she has intelligence, just not a lot in the way of common sense.

 

Most of what she did while wearing the Alicorn Amulet was the amulet's power influencing her.  I doubt she even remembers how to perform most of the spells she used while under its influence.

 

As for the whole, creating spells V finishing spells thing, finishing a spell started by someone else would be much harder than creating your own.  Starswirl created so many spells he has a wing in the library devoted to him, and we've watched Twilight craft some new spells on the fly in the finales, so making a new spell doesn't seem like it's all that dificult.

[Malinter 3,065]

Where's the info showing Trixie has attended the academy please.

One of the writters of the show twitted that Trixie had attended the School for Gifted Unicorns.

[Nuke87654 1,849]

One of the writters of the show twitted that Trixie had attended the School for Gifted Unicorns.

Ah, thank you for the info Shire.

[Hive King 2,001]

And then she got kicked out, so it's hardly relevant. 

[Jeric 46,890]

My interpretation of Trixie doesn't really focus on intellect, it's more personality based. I actually think she's average ... but any discussion of intellect without taking into account how arrogant people might be wary or dismissive of knowledge seems seems like a missed opportunity

[Malinter 3,065]

Trixie is far from being a genius.

 

However.

 

Spike states that it is rare for unicorns to master multiple spells, Trixie is the only other unicorn besides Twilight we've seen who breaks this trend. She may not be a genius but she probably does have potiental to be a strong mage.

[Hive King 2,001]

Trixie is far from being a genius.

 

However.

 

Spike states that it is rare for unicorns to master multiple spells, Trixie is the only other unicorn besides Twilight we've seen who breaks this trend. She may not be a genius but she probably does have potiental to be a strong mage.

Rarity has mastered gem finding and levitation, yet she's weak

[Malinter 3,065]

Rarity has mastered gem finding and levitation, yet she's weak

 i was talking about 7-10+ spells, not two.

 

 

Rarity also isn't as interested in magic the way Twilight and Trixie are. She wants to be a fashionista, not a master of magic.

[Pastel 7,630]

Rarity has mastered gem finding and levitation, yet she's weak

In addition to what Malinter said: she need these spells for her job, I guess many unicorns have to learn precise spells depending on their job.

 

And then she got kicked out, so it's hardly relevant.

Or maybe she decided to leave it. Edited August 24, 2014 by Blobulle

[Hive King 2,001]

She need these spells for her job, I guess many unicorns have to learn precise spells depending on their job.

 

Or maybe she decided to leave it.

Then she's an even bigger fool

[Pastel 7,630]

Then she's an even bigger fool

Maybe she left the school to live on her own.

[Hive King 2,001]

Maybe she left the school to live on her own.

Then she has no one to blame for her weakness but herself

[Pastel 7,630]

Then she has no one to blame for her weakness but herself

You got me.

Maybe she didn't like the school then. :/

[Shanks 10,817]

Trixie was only able to do most of what you described due to the power boost from the Alicorn Amulet, her magic skills are decent but not to the level of Twilight at least not without the Alicorn Amulet. I would rate her as slightly above average but not a genius, that is label is a bit more appropriate for Twilight.

Edited August 24, 2014 by EarthbendingProdigy

[Hive King 2,001]

You got me.

Maybe she didn't like the school then. :/

Plenty of people don't like college, they don't start crying and whining about how someone who actually worked hard got a medical degree while they, a drop out, is a carnival salesman

[Fractured 2,684]

I'm under the impression that magic spells are more like mathematical equations than intuitive ideas. What Trixie did was similar to someone solving a mathematical principle without ever having looked at it, based on that idea. It's not a far stretch that the alicorn amulet gave her knowledge of those spells, however.

[ghostfacekiller39 23,880]

Plenty of people don't like college, they don't start crying and whining about how someone who actually worked hard got a medical degree while they, a drop out, is a carnival salesman

They generally look back and regret it, but I haven't seen Trixie whine about it since it was kinda never touched upon in canon, so I fail to see any relevance with this statement and the topic at hand other than to degrade the character to suit your own argument You also need to do a bit more elaborating on your points, since you often just post a single statement that's a personal opinion, try to pass it off as fact, and then do nothing to support your statement at all. If you're going to debate, you need to back it up more because right now it comes across like you're trying to argue with people for no apparent reason other than a personal distaste.

 

Evidence, my friend. What makes you feel that way? I'm not only curious and left desiring an actual answer to this question, but I'm a bit confused as to everything you're pointing out because I don't see anything to try and convince me to accept your line of reasoning. Don't just state it, friend. Provide evidence, because I'm not seeing any.